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Summary List of stories Phase II Night: Ashes, Metal, And Corruption << chapter 43 Chapter 44 of 75 Empathetic Relationships chapter 45 >> << previous scene Scene 1 of 2 next scene >> Location Participants Time Summary Prologue | Phase I | Phase II | Epilogue 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 Text When Discombobulation woke up, he found himself staring at a ceiling covered in stars and celestial symbols. For a few moments, he was silent, frowning a little as he tried to remember what had happened before he tried to reach up and touch his face... and instead, he only felt a faint pang before he looked down at the bandaged stump of his shoulder. That brought it all back: fighting Discord despite being more scared than he had been when he'd fought Fafnir – because after all, death had seemed like the only possible conclusion for him and everyone else at that point anyway, and he'd been mostly-right – and then... eventually, coming back here and fainting on the kitchen floor from overexertion. So he guessed Luna and Scrivener had come back here, found him... and put him here, in their own bed. They had bandaged his shoulder, and it felt... strange. Ticklish, in a not-very-ticklish way. He reached up and rubbed slowly at this as he closed his eyes and bowed his head forwards, then he cursed under his breath before he sat carefully up, and his head spun. He was pale, his energy drained, and his body aching. And this time, his arm was gone, and would stay gone: he wasn't laying in a hundred different pieces of rubble, kept alive by the constant flood of energy and chaos vomiting out of the gates of a broken-down fortress-between-worlds, with the paste and glue of a destruction demigod waiting to be applied to help stick him back together like humpty-dumpty. He shivered a little, grasping at the missing limb, feeling both a twisted sense of self-satisfaction and horrendous... not regret, but close to that. Longing: what he imagined he would do to be able to cut and paste a new arm on... Discombobulation closed his eyes, then forced himself shakily up to his feet. He swayed a little on them, but it felt better to be up, better to be doing something. And his missing arm hurt less, although his body hurt more, when he was standing: but it was a more-than-far tradeoff in his eyes. The Draconequus slowly pulled open the door, then stepped out into the hall... and then he looked down in surprise as Antares Mīrus shot down the corridor and skidded to a halt in front of him, looking up, pale and scared, as he asked worriedly: "Disco-Bob, Disco-Bob, you okay?" Discombobulation smiled a little: when the foal was worried about something, when his emotions got the better of him, his talking went a little funny. And for some reason, it helped, as Luna and Scrivener both hurried into the corridor, Luna gently grasping Antares and leaning down to say quietly: "Come, Antares, come on now, we spoke about this. And Discombobulation, thou must rest." "Then I'd prefer to rest out here with the rest of you over sulking in your pillows. They reek of you and your husband, and I can hear all your secrets in my ears. It's unpleasant." Discombobulation said gently, and then he paused and reached up to touch his bandaged shoulder, adding in a softer voice to Antares: "The deeds of the children are a testament to the upbringing they received from their parents. Don't worry about me. I'm only missing one puzzle piece." Antares smiled faintly up at him, allowing Luna to pull him back as Scrivener gazed quietly up at the Draconequus, but Discombobulation only grumbled and motioned moodily for him to go. The earth pony nodded hesitantly, then turned and headed through the kitchen to the back yard to fetch Twilight from where she was sitting quietly beneath the Ambrosia tree: when he returned with the anxious violet mare, she ran immediately for where Discombobulation was sitting on a cushion with his back against the dividing wall, but he only winced and held up his hand. "Enough hugs for now, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight blushed deeply at this, bowing her head forwards as she looked over him awkwardly, and then Scrivener smiled a little as he rejoined Luna and concerned Antares on the bedding. Twilight instead quietly sat down... and then Antares asked quietly: "Does it hurt?" Luna nudged her son gently, but even as he blushed, the Draconequus shook his head slowly, answering softly: "Nothing unbearable. But I suppose after all the time I spent as the crumbs at the bottom of the chip bag, I've had quite a long time to get used to quite a lot of pain. Still, it doesn't hurt. It tingles." Scrivener nodded a little as Luna looked over at the Draconequus, and then Twilight quietly laid herself down, smiling faintly up at him. Discombobulation looked mildly over at her for a few moments, and then he shook his head slowly, saying dryly: "You really are attracted to damaged people, aren't you? Lack of a limb shouldn't make me sexier to you." Twilight trembled a little at this, leaning back and looking awkward and hurt, and Discombobulation grimaced as he looked away, mumbling: "Perhaps I went a little far. I suppose it's true, though, misery does love company. And I am feeling particularly miserable at this point and time today." "It's okay." Twilight said after a moment, and there was silence for a little while between the awkward group. Then the violet mare looked up, saying finally: "Do you want me to mix up some Ambrosia for you to drink, Discombobulation? Luna can help me with diluting it and it might... help... and Zecora is going to come by when she gets back to Equestria. She's visiting her people right now, warning them about Clockwork World and the threats that might come." But Discombobulation only mumbled and shook his head before he rubbed tiredly at his chest, then sighed a little and glanced up. "I feel like a story. How would all you strange ponies like a story?" "You thrive off attention, don't you?" Scrivener asked softly, but even as Twilight gave him a pointed look, Discombobulation laughed quietly and carefully pushed himself slowly up, nodding slowly. "You should rest, though..." "Oh shut up, Luna. Choose one side or the other, be a jerk or not. Pinkamena already has the whole jerk-with-a-heart-of-gold thing covered." Discombobulation muttered, and then he shook his head quickly before raising his head and beginning quietly: "Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away... "As you know well, I feed off confusion. I am... more subtle than Discord is, to a large extent because I am much less powerful." Discombobulation closed his eyes, letting his head rest back against the divider as the ponies listened with interest. "Not long after my, well... we are not... born. We are, and we are not, this is very difficult for me to make you understand and I don't have the energy to simply pass on the images right now, how my kind becomes sentient, pieced together in the stinking refuse of Ginnungagap. "Alright, alright, I'm moving forwards, don't be so impatient. Damnable ponies." Discombobulation muttered, and then he shook his head briefly before continuing: "I told you before that there are no ranks, but there are powers. There are no noble families, there is no entitlement, there is no... agreement and negotiation. There is simply trickery and strength, and that is Ginnungagap. "Discord was always among the most powerful. A little... arrogant, yes... but that is not always seen as a failing, is it? You mares are attracted to arrogance, yes?" Discombobulation cracked an eye open moodily, then he turned his gaze to Scrivener Blooms. "I'm not sure if I included you in that, by the way." Scrivener glowered at him, and Discombobulation closed his eye again before he said quietly: "I recognized what Discord did to me because he did it to me once before, in Ginnungagap. That was how he 'earned' my loyalty. You know, in the same way that many mob bosses earn the loyalty of gangs they take over by cutting the heads off the former gang leaders and shooting everyone who disagrees with them in the face or chest or genitals or all of the above. "The difference, of course, was that in Ginnungagap such a nasty enchantment will eventually wear off, and being made of the stuff of chaos as it that whole realm is, it means that the pieces of me that had petrified would have eventually healed." Discombobulation quieted. "But this is not Ginnungagap. And there is no way back to Ginnungagap. And I do not want to go back to Ginnungagap, any more than I am sure Discord does." He was silent for a few moments, Antares shifting quietly to curl up a bit further against his mother as Scrivener tilted his head with interest, and then the Draconequus sighed, murmuring softly: "I still remember it. Discord decided one day, completely out of the blue – although on that subject, I always wonder when I say that out of the blue what – to leave Ginnungagap for Midgard. We both... understood, and did not understand at that point, that it was only one of many layers of what we call Midgard and you call Equestria, since you ponies rarely ever acknowledge that there are countries apart from Equestria in your world. Either way, we thought he was insane and gladly told him so, all of us, his acolytes. You see, we told him exactly what we knew he expected us to say, and he knew we were just saying this to insult him and push him onwards, so he would leave, knowing that once he left he would lose his ability to control us. Because Discord, you see, left a mark on each and every acolyte he acquired by means of trickery or force: not enough to make slaves of us, but enough to compel us to follow his orders, however insane they might be. "Discord had us tear the door of Ginnungagap open for him, insulted by our expected insult and leaving, fuming, for Midgard. And we all thought that would be it, but... it was not. It was a grand prank, you see... now we were all like toy robots without a master around. In other words, it turned out Discord did the cruelest thing of all you can do to our kind: he made sure that without him, we would be bored." Discombobulation paused meditatively for a few moments, and then he looked grumpily over at Twilight, adding dryly: "I think that was why I was so delighted when it turned out that of all the acolytes... I was the one chosen to get thrown out of Ginnungagap, and into the waiting arms... legs... whatever... of my new slave-master. Not that you were ever very good at it, Twilight Sparkle. You would always crack the whip at the wrong times and there's a certain reedy quality to your voice that makes your threats sound just a little bit wooden. Not that I'm any Marlon Brando myself, mind you. But I bet I could still do a good Boris Karloff, even now." Twilight only sighed softly, then she quietly slipped forwards and silently dropped her head in Discombobulation's lap, and the Draconequus grimaced a little, raising his hand as he said distastefully: "You're not a cat." "Meow." Twilight said sourly, and Discombobulation rolled his eyes before he reached down and silently rubbed a hand along Twilight's side, and the violet mare smiled faintly and closed her eyes. "So... is that your story?" "Of course. And it's not over yet, but... you've all lived it with me to this point, so there's no point in going into further detail, is there?" the Draconequus said quietly, gesturing gently with his hand, and then he dropped it back against Twilight, looking silently towards his stub of shoulder. "I never imagined this happening, though, to be honest. It has stricken some of the confusion right out of me, I believe." There was silence... and then Antares quietly slipped away from Luna and Scrivener to walk over to Discombobulation's other side, curling against him and hugging him tightly around the waist as he buried his face the Draconequus. A tear rolled down the foal's cheek, and Discombobulation looked down at him silently before he closed his eyes and bowed his head forwards as Luna said quietly: "My friend... if there is ever anything, anything at all we can do for thee... we shall do it. Do not ever hesitate to ask. And as to thy arm..." "There's no need to worry about that. I'm a patchwork doll, after all, as the demons call my kind." Discombobulation smiled wryly, glancing over at Luna as he silently stroked along Twilight Sparkle's back. "Besides, you and Luna have other worries to think about. Bigger worries than myself, touched as I am that you would come back to try and help this broken, belligerent thespian." "It's the least we can do for everything you've done for us." Scrivener said quietly, and then he stood up and headed for the kitchen, asking over his shoulder: "Coffee or tea?" "Do you have cigarettes too? Then we can be alcoholics together." Discombobulation asked dryly, and Scrivener sighed from the kitchen, which made the Draconequus smile wryly. "I suppose I'm a bit of an emotional sadist. Your mental frustrations bring me great pleasure as you struggle to resist the urge to explain to me once more how it was a dependency, not an addiction, knowing full-well I'll either ignore you, refute you, deny you, or simply call you a drunk again." "And yet you're good for me, too. Because it's because of your teasing, taunting, and humiliation – and yours too, Luna, don't think I'm forgetting you – that I'm okay with being able to talk about things that still make me feel ashamed in one way or another." Scrivener replied dryly, and Discombobulation looked up curiously. "I think everyone should have a Draconequus or at least one abusive spouse." Twilight and Luna both smiled as Antares seemed to relax a little at the sense of lightening in the air, and then Discombobulation shook his head slowly, saying mildly: "It's about time you finally said something worth adding to my repertoire. Well, apart from that thing you said to Valthrudnir, Luna. I have to admit, that took some serious cojones." "What?" Twilight looked up curiously, and Scrivener cleared his throat loudly from the kitchen before Discombobulation leaned down and whispered it in her ear when Antares cocked his head curiously, and then the violet mare snorted in amusement as she sat up so she could look over the counter divider at Scrivener Blooms. "You did not say that." "What did Dad say?" Antares asked curiously, and Luna grinned widely, beginning to open her mouth before wincing when Scrivener shot her a horrible look from the kitchen. "What? Was it a bad word?" Luna grumbled a bit, kneading her hooves against the bedding before she finally sighed and nodded moodily. "Aye, 'twas. And I do not see why we must keep language of all things from our child!" Scrivener only turned his attention back to the kitchen, but he was surprised when Twilight answered for him with a slight smile. "Because words have power, Luna. We try to convince ourselves they don't but... they do. Besides, it's not just or Antares' sake we're all trying to avoid teaching him some of your favorite words... it's because if he learns those words and accidentally repeats any of them to Meadowlark or Avalon or any of his other friends, who are the parents going to come back and blame?" "Scrivener Blooms!" Luna said hopefully, but when Twilight and Discombobulation both looked at her with amusement, she grumbled and dropped her head sulkily, saying moodily: "Aye, me. This is not working out as planned at all, I'll have thee know: 'twas supposed to be 'like father, like son,' but in a... well, a way that was good for me and bad for Scrivener. Instead, for some reason I do not understand, I am being blamed for all of Antares' rare bad behaviors and 'tis Scrivener Blooms who gets praised for all his good behavior! Antares, which parent does thou love more?" Antares looked a little horrified by this question, and Luna winced a bit at how seriously the child took it before Scrivener called mildly from the kitchen: "Just say your mother or we'll both get pummeled, kiddo." "Oh, you, mom!" Antares said quickly, still looking nervous... but when Scrivener came back inside to pass the foal his sippy cup with a smile, Antares visibly relaxed. "It was just a joke, kiddo, don't worry." Scrivener said gently, and Antares nodded a little more as he rose his cup carefully to his mouth. "We know you love us both." "And we would never ask thee to choose between us, Antares, not ever." Luna added quietly, smiling over at her son reassuringly before she said gently: "Tis not a competition. Oh, aye, there are many things in which Scrivener and I may compete, after all, but... our goal is to take care of thee and make thee happy, beloved foal. Do not doubt that, nor fear that... one of us loves thee more than the other. Thou... thou art..." Luna quieted, blushing a bit as she lowered her head, unable to find the words... and feeling a faint, twisting worm of shame in her as Nightmare Moon whispered something just beneath the surface of her thoughts. For a moment, memories flickered through her, thoughts rising to the surface she didn't want to have, as Antares looked over at her, resting quietly against Discombobulation's side... and then the colt glanced down and said softly: "Thanks Mom. I know you and Dad love me, too, and would do anything for me... you... you're good parents. Scarlet Sage says that a lot, and it's true. It really is." Luna smiled faintly at this, laughing quietly as she dropped her head forwards with a blush before Scrivener returned from the kitchen with a tray of mugs of coffee. He picked up the largest to hand over to Discombobulation, who took it suspiciously, looking moodily over the others before he sniffed carefully at it... then he huffed a bit, saying dryly: "What? Classic poisons aren't good enough anymore, so instead you mixed in some of your damnable healing elixir?" "Curses, foiled again." Scrivener said ironically, picking up his own cup of coffee, and Antares giggled a little from beside Discombobulation as the unicorn foal sipped at his chocolate milk. Discombobulation sighed a little at this as Luna laughed and Twilight gave her own small smile, and there was silence for a moment before the four sipped slowly at their coffees at almost the same time, the three ponies gazing towards the Draconequus with something like relief. He lowered his mug after another long, thoughtful sip, rolling the coffee in his jaws before he nodded slowly, saying moodily: "Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine." "Laughter's also the best medicine. Unless you put an S in front of it." Scrivener added mildly, glancing over towards Luna, who snorted in amusement. "Well, okay, maybe you and Pinkamena disagree but you're both bloodthirsty nasty-things." "Like fighting fish." Discombobulation said grumpily, and then he shifted a bit before sighing and looking grouchily at his shoulder, but there was an undercurrent of pain and sorrow in his eyes. "Damnation. I wonder how Rick Allen dealt with it." The ponies looked at him softly, and then Antares sat up and asked curiously: "Would you like to hold Gymbr?" For a moment, Discombobulation only looked down at the foal... and then he nodded slowly and gave a faint smile, replying quietly: "I would like that very much." Antares nodded a few times, then he turned and hurried away to fetch his doll, and Discombobulation glanced over at Scrivener and Luna before asking mildly: "Just how in the world did you manage to raise such a wonderful little child from bits and pieces of you two?" Scrivener and Luna only traded a look, then they both shrugged and only smiled as Antares came back with Gymbr in tow. He almost stumbled into Twilight, who laughed and leaned quickly out of the way before the colt half-tossed Gymbr into Discombobulation's lap, and the Draconequus smiled a little and nodded as he rose his mug of coffee, bowing his head forwards in honest thanks with humbled, overbright eyes. Category:Transcript Category:Story